Taking stock: what we have achieved together

Eastern Arc was established in 2013 as a tripartite consortium (UEA, Essex, Kent), initially to facilitate and enable the development of collaborative doctoral training partnerships. 

It expanded its remit in 2019 with the recruitment of a director, who established its structure and focus on three areas of activity (collaboration, culture and advocacy), and its four primary focus areas (coast, food, heritage and sanctuary). Sussex joined the consortium in 2024. 

Since 2013, and at an accelerated pace since 2019, Eastern Arc has achieved a significant amount. What follows gives an indication of this. 

Funding

Eastern Arc has secured over £16m in project funding and over £40m in doctoral training funding, either exclusively for the consortium (eg T-PIKE, DALE), or as the leads and drivers for wider collaborations (eg EIRA, ARISE, Golden Circle, DTPs). Together they demonstrate both the convening power and leadership that the consortium has demonstrated in extending the boundaries of knowledge, facilitating knowledge exchange and utilising the findings of research, upskilling those across the research ecosystem, and training the next generation of researchers. 

  • Projects: 
    • Business and Local Government Big Data Research Centre (ESRC), EARC + 1 partner: £5m to develop and provide academic expertise and a range of no-fee services in big data and analytics.
    • EIRA (Research England), EARC + 4 partners: £4.7m for innovation and knowledge exchange activities.
    • ARISE (UKRI), EARC + 5 partners: £3m for developing interventions to increase resilience of coastal communities and seas.
    • T-PIKE (EPSRC), solely EARC: £3m (£1.5m grant from EPSRC plus £1.5m in matched funding from stakeholders), for innovation skills training for technicians
    • Golden Circle (Research England), EARC + 2 other partners: £500k for coordinating tech transfer activities.
    • DALE (EDI Caucus (UKRI/British Academy), solely EARC: £50k for auditing disability access to lab environments across Eastern Arc.
  • Doctoral training partnerships and centres (which involve both EARC universities and those beyond the consortium):
    • ARIES (Nerc), EARC + 2 other partners: £5.8m (first phase, as EnvEast), £8.8m (second phase)
    • CHASE (AHRC), EARC + 4 other partners £17m (first phase), ~£3m (second phase)
    • SenSS (ESRC), EARC + 6 other partners: £6m (first phase)

Events

Eastern Arc has hosted ~100 events in the last 5 years, with an estimated participation of >2k delegates. These have included annual thematic conferences (average attendance 120, of whom 2/3rds were external stakeholders), specialist workshops (10-100), sandpits, webinars, information days and consultations. 

Mentoring

Eastern Arc has created an innovative, light-touch, participant-led mentoring scheme that has attracted >500 mentors and mentees since 2020. Previous participants have described it as ‘a really valuable experience,’ which had ‘helped me immensely’, facilitating ‘more free-thinking and openness’, and which ‘pushed me to be my best self and be bold!’ For many it was ‘useful to know that I was not alone and the feelings and concerns I had were valid’, and that there was an equitability in the experience for both mentee and mentor: ‘the learning and sharing and partly mental health support has been two-way.’ And for some, the experience was life-changing:

‘The scheme definitely met my expectations and even exceeded them. My mentor was able to offer a different perspective on the issues and problems I was facing since she works at a different university – allowing me to take a step back and to see the bigger picture. She encouraged me to think about applying for my manager’s role when he left and there was a vacancy. Her wise counsel and support in this definitely played a part in me applying for and getting that promotion.’

Training

Eastern Arc has established the Reciprocal Training Programme, which brings together and opens up training programmes at each university to those at the other partners, identifying gaps and hosting bespoke cross-consortium events. Since it was established in April, >300 participants and 17 speakers have taken part.

Networks

Eastern Arc has created a framework of >20 networks, established and developed according to participant need and potential value. Over 800 internal and external stakeholders are involved in them; some networks act as fora in areas of strategic importance and opportunity, allowing members to learn from each other and forge collaborations, whilst other networks provide leadership and active direction. These include Open Research, University Collections Management, Medical Humanities, Heritage and Culture, Coastal Data (Coda), Arc of Sanctuary, Ethics and Governance, and the Education Alliance, as well as informal networks for ADRs and DoRIs, research development staff, REF coordinators, research intelligence managers, advocacy officers, and engineering and physical science leads.

  • National networks: initiated or was integral to the development of a national MCR Framework (with Vitae and N8), and the creation of a ‘Network of Networks’ (including N8, GW4, Midlands Innovation, White Rose, Yorkshire Universities, West Midlands Combined Universities, Universities for North East England (UNEE), Wales Innovation Network).
  • Social Research Partnership: agreed a unique partnership with the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) to create a structured framework for identifying, developing, and delivering high-quality social research, particularly in response to government funding opportunities, to achieve mutual benefit and societal impact.

Equipment and technical collaboration

Eastern Arc created a forum for technicians to work together, and negotiated an agreement to share equipment across the consortium on a quid pro quo basis. 

  • Equipment Sharing Platform: >190 pieces of equipment and facilities included (listed on searchable Jisc web database), which can be accessed at local rates by staff and students across the consortium. Two case studies demonstrate how this has worked and the value it has added.
  • Technicians Network: provides an avenue for >1000 technicians across the Consortium to work together and learn from each other, helping to coordinate the Technician Commitment at each university. Together identified common challenges and ways in which the role, profile and value of technicians can be raised at all the partners, and established an annual conference that attracted external sponsorship. Subsequently, Two of the Technician Network leads have been shortlisted for the Times Higher Technician of the Year Award 2026.

Publications, briefings, position papers and responses to consultations

Eastern Arc has published a range of internal and external publications in a variety of formats. These are intended to inform, to prepare, to highlight and to warn, as well as fulfilling the broader aim of advocating on behalf of the consortium.

  • Publications, including The Importance of Place (2021), social and economic inequalities of coastal communities (2022), challenges facing MCRs (the ‘RAIL Report’, 2023), the critical role of universities in devolution (2024), From the Wash to the White Cliffs (2022) and the economic value of regional heritage (2025), both of which evidenced the economic impact of heritage and the visitor economy on a local level, and OA: Key Concerns Answered (2022, 2nd edition 2023).
  • Internal briefings, intended to ensure that both university leaders, academics on the ground and professional service staff are fully aware of the ramifications and consequences of strategic developments at a national level. These have included the broader future of UK funding (following Devolution Bill, IS, Post-16 White Paper), summaries of key government and funder policies and strategies (2019 onwards), the Industrial Strategy and the implications of the UKRI Strategy 2026-31. 
  • Response to consultations and position papers, including the Industrial Strategy, Pioneer Programme, R&D Roadmap, Smith-Reid Review, and the Nurse Review.
  • Podcasts: during and following the Covid pandemic, a series of 24 podcasts to encourage and support connection and continuing collaboration at a time of isolation. Subjects included decolonising the curriculum, natural capital, developing resilience, recycling and household decision-making, and topics related to the virus, including the development of tests, volunteering, overcoming loneliness and returning to normality.